Published with the cooperation of the Toscanini Foundation, this critical evaluation of the art of Arturo Toscanini investigates the nature of his greatness as an interpreter of music. The author, a British composer, conductor and music critic, shows that Toscanini's uniqueness as a conductor rests on a number of elements - his insistence on the importance of tempo, the sense of dramatic structure which allowed him to channel the intensity of the work and avoid anti-climax, and other factors. Mr. Hughes also points out the tremendous influence exerted on Toscanini by his early association with Verdi and Puccini. This new, enlarged edition analyzes Toscanini's approaches to the work of 22 composers; Beethoven and Verdi are stressed, as it is in conducting the works of these composers that the author feels Toscanini made his most permanent contribution to music. The conductor's performances of each of Beethoven's nine symphonies are analyzed movement by movement; Fidelio, the Missa Solemnis, the Verdi Requiem, and six of Verdi's operas (Rigoletto, La Traviata, Un ballo in maschera, Aida, Otello and Falstaff) are given similar detailed treatment. Many musical excerpts illustrate specific features of Toscanini's performances. Four Mozart symphonies, Mozart's The Magic Flute, Debussy's La Mer, Berlioz's Romeo and Juliet, and Puccini's La Bohe?me are among the other Toscanini interpretations discussed. Whenever possible, the author draws on his own memories of Toscanini performances and on notes made during many of the conductor's rehearsals, frequently comparing a live performance of a work with the recording. - Back cover.